WALDORF, MD. — Had there been a hard copy of the Atlantic League history book in the Somerset Patriots’ clubhouse Sunday afternoon, it would have gotten soaked in champagne and ruined.

Of course, that scenario would not have been all that tragic because now it needs to be rewritten anyway.

By defeating the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 3-1 in the Championship Series, the Patriots became the first team to win back-to-back titles and the first to succeed with primarily the same cast as the previous season.

“I’ve always said how hard it is to win back-to-back in this league,” said Sparky Lyle, who has managed the franchise to five championships in 12 years. “I didn’t think there was anything against us this year except that. But the last month or so I started thinking we really have a chance at doing this.”

His players liked their odds long before then.

Talk of a repeat filled the air during spring training in mid-April and never completely subsided.

Every mention of the failures suffered by past defending champions and past teams with too many holdovers generated a confident, borderline-egotistical response.

Reminders of the ultimate goal were omnipresent, including on the “Drive for Five” T-shirts worn every day during batting practice.

“It can work if you bring back core guys who like playing with each other and have a lot of success,” said catcher Travis Anderson, a Flemington resident. “What we do here in Somerset is the right way to do it. No other team in the league should’ve done this but us.”

Given more opportunities this season to celebrate than any other team in the history of the league, the Patriots instead saved their true jubilation for the ultimate prize.

The players basically used only high-fives to commemorate clinching a playoff berth, setting a record for most victories in a season, winning both half-season division titles and beating the Newark Bears in the Freedom Division Championship Series.

“We only celebrate one thing here: Championships,” second baseman Matt Hagen said. “That’s the only thing that matters.”

Stability was the signature for the 2009 team, which set a Patriots’ record for fewest players (37) used in a season.

“I can’t say enough about how this team stayed together from spring training until now,” said Jeff Nettles, who was named Championship Series Most Valuable Player for the second time during his six-year tenure with the Patriots. “When you have a good core group of guys who want to play with each other how can that be wrong?”

The final bit of adversity arrived Saturday night with the best-of-five series tied 1-1 and the Blue Crabs leading 4-0 after the first inning in Game 3. The Patriots rallied to take the lead in the seventh inning, then hung on despite Lyle’s ejection.

With their manager suspended Sunday, the Patriots cruised to an 11-1 victory that was followed by an unprecedented outpouring of emotion on the field and in the postgame clubhouse.

“You better take pride in it,” Hagen said. “If not, what are you playing for? Some other players on other teams may not look at it like that but unless winning is important to you, you don’t come to Somerset.”

The win-first attitude of Hagen and teammates, which can be rare when individual careers our on the line in the Atlantic League, is one of the reasons Lyle stated when labeling 2009 as the “best championship yet bar none.”

“It was everybody’s goal from the get-go,” he said. “So many guys got hurt and just kept playing on and struggling on and winning. Some of it wasn’t pretty, but a lot of it was pretty.”